Our adventure opens up at high noon on Friday the 13th, 2012. Events happen in two different parts of the Metroplex simultaneously.

Ross Avenue, Dallas
Conor and Elena are at Jorge’s Autos on Ross Avenue in Dallas to help Conor buy his first car. Suddenly, Miranda steps out of the Nevernever, looks directly at Elena and says “I’m so sorry Elena, I had no choice!” Her face is streaked with tears and she slumps to her knees as Ghouls come bursting forth – directly at Elena!

Elena’s first instinct is to shove Jorge into the little blue Ford Fiesta Conor was looking at and yell at him to stay in there!

Even Elena’s ability to avoid getting hit is stretched to the limit as four of the monsters try and carve themselves a steak from her hide. She leaps behind a Toyota Corolla to avoid the first, ducks under the swing of a Ghoul that had lept onto the car’s hood, and rolled beneath the talons of another that was standing on the roof. She tries to roll under the vehicle to avoid another, but it guesses correctly and slashes Elena as she scrabbles beneath the car.

Unfortunately for them, they were so focused on Elena that they didn’t notice Conor coming up from behind. One Ghoul is completely looking the wrong way as Conor punches its ticket – permanently – one way. His fist ruptures the creatures skull and it collapses after leaving a head shaped dent in a Hyundai Civic’s fuel cap side rear fender.

One of the remaining Ghouls focus on Conor as the other two continue their original attack plan. Elena is again raked, but her vest is able to mitigate some of it. She rises up and with a steady hand, puts a bullet through the forehead of one. Meanwhile on the other side of the Civic, Conor drives his fist so far up into the Ghoul’s solar plexus that he hits its spine… it doesn’t get back up again.

The final Ghoul flees with Conor in hot pursuit as Elena stops to clean up the crime scene as best she can (the three Ghouls already beginning to dissolve into ectoplasm). They flee with Miranda in the car, where they found out that the Ghouls had eaten one of Miranda’s “chorus” (Ceres) and had kidnapped Juno and threatened her with the same if she didn’t help them find Elena.

Meanwhile, the entire fracas was observed by a lesser known member of The Confederacy and Content Not Found: erica (who is hanging out with Ren discussing various things) is tasked to relay a message to the members who might be in the area. Quickly Dona Esmeralda’s place of work is offered as a shelter, and the few members in the Ross avenue area flee the streets to safety… the only truly stressful moment came when Dona Esmeralda sends her reply to the relay… via Ghost.

Grand Prairie, Mid-Cities
Matthew is headed to a nearby church as he encounters a violently sobbing/crying adult female sitting on a park bench near a school. It’s Alice Jones, who works for Jaime. Within moments she conveys the horrible news… that Raven, Jaime’s ex-wife, and a Goblin had kidnapped both Jaime’s son Jake as well as Kaely (Alice’s daughter). They both immediately head to Jaime’s home.

Now about this time, a magical guardian that Jaime had put over his son, arrives with the dreadful news – his son has been kidnapped by his own mother. Needless to say… Jaime doesn’t take it well and sets out to use magic to determine the location of his son. By the time he has a fix on them (fleeing via a Fae Trod in the Nevernever on the backs of Hellhounds), Alice and Matthew arrive.

Let’s Geaux!
A few cell phone calls and via judicious use of Conor’s Worldwalking ability, the heroes are able to meet up near Plano (Erica’s home) and head out to find Jaime’s son… who appears to be somewhere in Lafayette, Louisiana and heading east (Jake clutched by his mother Raven who rides on the back of one beast, and a dangerous looking Goblin who is clutching Kaely on the back of a second). En route, Elena relates the events of January, when she last crossed paths with Eric McCulloch.

Again, taxing Conor’s Worldwalking gift to its very maximum, they are able to find trods that lead them very quickly to Lafayette, hot on the heels of the Goblin Hellhounds and Raven. From Lafayette they are able to track Jaime’s Ex-Wife as far as Manchac Swamp just outside New Orleans and there interference of a magical kind shuts down Jaime’s divinations.

Open Up a Can
As they enter the Nevernever again to go quickly from Lafayette to New Orleans, following a Trod resonating with the sounds of Storyville Jazz music (at Erica’s detection) they reach the borders of the swamp and face a wildfae welcoming committee of a fat-Goblin named Coonazz Bob, two Hobigators named Chuhe’d and Boudic (Fae Hobs…with Aligator parts), and some saltwater-poisoned Cypress tree chlorofiends!

There’s really no time for snappy banter. The two groups slam into each other like titans! When it’s concluded, Matthew’s sprawled out on the Nevernever turf with a tree shaped knot on his head and figurative birdies flying around his noggin. Coonazz Bob has fled (shouting something to the effect of “He ain’t payin’ me enuf fo dis!”), the Hobigators are dissolving into ectoplasm…. and the Chlorofiends are asleep… lulled by Erica’s golden voice.

Showdown
The heroes enter the swamp and after slogging through the Nevernever’s equivalent of the Bayou… they arrive at the end of Conor’s ability to track. So, they step through to the physical world and arrive at a macabre location in the heart of the Manchac. On a rising hillock in the heart of the Bayou is an old abandoned fishing cabin; built amidst an abandoned and flooded old Cajun cemetery. Alligators are swimming and have made their dens in old graves and tombs as waters of the bayou freely flow throughout the area.

Eric is clearly finishing some kind of spell – Raven is holding her son as his arm is outstretched and Eric is doing something strange. Jake cries out in pain, and Raven says “There, you have what you wanted, now I’m out of here!” … those are some of the last words Jaime remembers hearing as the rage causes blood to rush forth into his ears.

Here, at Eric’s lair are the last of his “gang.” The goblin, its two hellhounds, two ghouls, and worst of all… an Uberghoul. As the ghouls and hellhounds leap at the heroes, Eric “calls out” Jaime … spellslinger to spellslinger to see who’s the best.

At this stage, one of Eric’s “goons” betrays him and flees with his “prize” – Kaely – on the back of his Hellhound steed.

In the ensuing titanic battle, the heroes are bloodied but due to a combination of blessed and iron jacketed ammunition, magical defenses, and raw chutzpah, the heroes are able to fell the Uberghoul, dispatch the other ghoul, hellhound, and most significantly… Jaime is the one left standing with Eric at his feet – beaten and broken. Unfortunately, with the words “He’s my son too Jaime!” Raven uses some enchanted item to flee the scene back into the Nevernever.

Jaime and his son are reunited; however in the wreckage of the fishing cabin.. they find the bodies of Eric’s former girlfriend Diana (and her current boyfriend Frank), clearly ritually sacrificed. They also find the remains of two of Miranda’s “chorus” – Iris (devoured), and Juno – who’s nearly been bled to death from wounds caused by the Ghouls eating the major muscles of her lower body.

Amidst the blood and carnage… the heroes realize that Kaely and her goblin abductor are headed one way… Raven another… as the first half of season 1 ends.